


Exam's Week (hell)

by Peachy_Lia



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - After College/University, F/M, Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 19:05:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15177299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peachy_Lia/pseuds/Peachy_Lia
Summary: This story is narrated to you by the two main characters. It takes place during their exam's rush ; what happens when you fall asleep on the same stranger, everyday, but he never pushes you away ? In the middle of roasting their tired brains, our dear characters find shelter in one another.A shelter that is more than a pillow.





	Exam's Week (hell)

**Author's Note:**

> Doyoung and TaeHa are both daydreamers who work hard but are completely obvious to certain things.

You know that feeling of apprehension, when you see a fatal date arriving closer and closer, day by day ?

 

Every year is the same ( even if I swear that I got more to study this semester ), and everytime it's the same nightmare, but at the end I always manage to pass through for the next year.

 

My flat transformed from a cozy, sunny place to an undescriptible mess of papers, post-its, and lost pencils, an enormous planning hanging above my bed like Damocles' sword.

 

Every face around me changed, dark eyebags appearing, tired eyes, double coffee-shots in hand.

 

And I'm pretty much the same.

 

My university is quite far away from my apartment ( it's a matter of price), so like many students, I have to take the metro every day.

 

Now, two weeks away from the final critic moments, everything is so quiet. Every passenger is either sleeping, earplugs shoved into their ears, studying, or questionning their life while gazing into nothing and nobody in particular.

 

It kinda scares me every year.

 

I have to finish the latin course before tomorrow... that means almost no sleep tonight. 

 

I thought to myself, climbing into the engine to go back to my flat, my brain blocking the distant chatter.

 

I could feel my eyelids dropping already. I veritably started shortening my nights since one week, and today I missed my first class, for the first time of the year. 

 

That was significant.

 

That stop was always quite empty, aside from a few people getting back from work, and six to seven students. 

 

I took my usual place, the back of my head resting on the window, welcoming the cold feeling inside my boiling hot head, closing my eyes.

 

I knew it wasn't a good idea, closing my eyes when I'm in this stage of tiredness, but...

 

Who cared. Not me.

 

♡

When I woke up, the line where the subway stopped was the one just before mine. I sighed in relief.

 

I slept so well. Strangely enough, I always fall asleep in the car, train or underground easier than in a proper bed. 

 

Maybe it was the regular rhythm of the rails, or the comforting purr of the floor, or the warm shoulder I rested my head on...

 

W A   I   T  .

 

I turned my head to see a young man with jet black hair sided apart, a deep framboise coloured sweatshirt hastly put on his broad shoulders, wearing a white t-shirt and dark green pants.  

 

Judging from his posture, mouth half opened, head thrown back and eyes closed, he was still sleeping. 

 

For how long have I been sleeping on a stranger ?

 

Thankfully, he didn't dare to wake up when I stood up to get off the engine. 

 

Oof.

 

As I walked away to get back up to the surface, mouth burried into my scarf, I couldn't shake off that odd feeling of shame.

 

Boh, at least I slept well. 

 

♡

0,2 mm. 

 

That's the size of increase that my eyebags gain every day. 

 

I didn't really measure it, although I thought about it, but I'm pretty sure it's accurate.

 

A week passed, finals are in just 6 days. And I want to die.

 

My parents called last evening, wishing me good luck. I really want to have good grades, like always, but the more I grow up, the more I realize how much I need to archieve to do what I'm planning to. 

 

Also, it's been a week since that guy I slept on kept sitting besides me in the underground. I never saw from which stop he came, since I was asleep everytime ( I tried to stay awake once, by curiosity, but I swear that one stop is enough for me to fall fast asleep ). He always let me slide on his comfortable right shoulder, not once pushing me away. 

 

Four day after we first 'met', I decided to sit somewhere else, because still, you don't do this. It was kinda rude and if it were me, I would be quite pissed to have someone mistake me for a pillow at every end of the day, when both me and him are tired as hell. 

 

Well, my polite effort was useless as I woke up from the usual shoulder, with him sleeping soundlessly besides me, my usual spot empty in front of me. 

 

For that, I was kind of thankful but also very ashamed. The poor guy must've got a sore shoulder, in the long run. Everytime I got off the subway, at my stop, I'm afraid I would wake him up. But he must've been really exhausted as well, as he never once moved or opened his closed eyes.  

 

Everytime I took the metro back home, I looked forward to that good sleep... because except for a two-hour cat nap in the early morning, I never got time to sleep properly anymore.

 

I laughed to myself, walking in the paved street to my flat, as I thought that exams could reunite strangers to do things they would never normally do. One morning, I saw two boys of the Fashion department bowing deeply to a Science department girl who just lended them a compass, looking up to her like some kind of goddess. 

 

♡

Two days to go before everything is done. 

 

Now, if you see a student in his twenties crawling on the floor, a mechanical pencil between his teeth, mumbling some formulas like some kind of mantra, it's perfectly normal and the city's residents consider hearing someone randomly yell in a foreign language at 4AM for common place.

 

Legend says, if you open the window during the night and yell, a bunch of desesperate young people will answer back with another cry.

 

The first three exams went pretty well, although the german oral was kinda messed up. 

 

Today was my chinese writing exam, and I had to dress up nicely for it. It's not my cup of tea, but I still did some efforts ; this morning, in the metro, I wore a black skirt, heels and a striped buttoned-up shirt. 

 

In the morning, I never took the same train as him. Guess his schedule was different. I don't even know in which prom he is... judging from his style and his mannequin-like looks, he might be in Fashion...but like we say, don't judge a book by its cover...

 

As the train sped up, I checked my painted lips ; I used a bright red lipstick (I only used it once before...) and I'm really not used to makup and visible colours. 

 

Oh, I'm so stressed. I didn't close a single eye during the night, and if it wasn't for my makup, I'm pretty sure that my eyebags were falling near my mid-cheeks. 

 

A women's voice announced my stop, and a wave of worn-out students got up at the same time, getting ready to work, rubbing their red eyes.

 

The doors opened. I followed the crowd until the escalators, and finally got out of the subway. 

 

As my phone rang ( I'm sure everyone enjoyed hearing Pentagon's iconic song before having their exams ), I stopped on my steps and answered to my roommate's call. 

 

\- TaeHa, emergency call !! Do you have a russian dictionary ?? 

 

I frowned.

 

\- Why in the world would I ? I don't take that class... I thought you had one ? 

 

\- I had one, like you said. But it went missing and I only realized it today. 

 

\- Ask Nina, I'm sure she has one. She always keeps weird stuff in her room. 

 

\- Okay, sorry for bothering you sweetheart ! Break a leg !

 

I said goodbye and hung up, praying for my friend. Passing an exam without a dictionary is a true hell.

 

Just as I put my phone back in my pocket, I heard a sweet voice humming the lyrics of Shine just behind me.

 

My head searched for the owner of the voice, amazed by how good and smooth it sounded, but the voice began to fade away as a black-haired boy jogged past me, sending a strand of my hair flying in front of my face. 

 

I stared at the back of his head, smiling at how some of us still got the courage to sing in this critic state.

 

Now, let's stop daydreaming and rock this damn exam.

 

♡

My lipstick was a complete mess.

 

But at least, the day was finished, and soon an amazing sleep will welcome me.

 

I took my usual place, smiling, and I closed my eyes, convinced that soon the boy with the pleasant shoulder will sit down besides me.

 

Well, yes, I slept. A little too well, maybe.

 

My eyes opened, checking that I didn't miss my stop, and then I looked back at the boy.

 

Now that I looked calmly at his face, I coudn't exactly believe how someone could have such soft and adorable features even with his mouth half opened, in a very deep sleep. I loved how his jet hair fell in little messy spikes on his pale forehead, thick black eyelashes orning his eyelids. 

 

Oh, he drooled a little.

 

I laughed, but soon enough, my chuckles died down in my throat.

 

This. Damned. Lipstick.

 

His stylish white Levis shirt was now decorated with a bright red lipstick stain on the shoulder. 

 

A few screams echoed through my mind before I proceeded to find a tissue. 

 

I'm definitely not going to put water on his shirt while he's sleeping. I'm not going to wipe it off with my finger like everybody does, because it would just make it worse. 

 

Oh ! Why is this happening to me !!?

 

I finally made a choice and got off the train with him still sleeping.

 

The poor boy would wake up to a red stain on his shirt, and a little paper placed on his lap, saying the lamest apology that existed.

 

♡

 

I'm sure he will not let me sleep on him again.

 

That's heartbreaking.

 

But what was I thinking. My god, I'm so stupid sometimes.

 

On the bright side, today was the last exam. Y   E    S.

 

Now, I had two months to catch up on sleep and with my friends. Well, if everything went well.

 

I sat in my usual seat, nervous. What if he's actually not that nice, what if he would be mad and yell ? Hell no. 

 

The red lipstick on my desk had seen my tired eyes shooting daggers at him. 

 

Falling asleep, today, was forbidden. I had to apologize.

 

The more I waited, the more I became nervous.

 

... and he didn't come.

 

♡ 

 

I CAN'T BELIEVE I MISSED THE METRO.

 

LITERALLY. FUCK. MY. LIFE.

 

I managed to survive the entire past month, arriving on time, doing everything the best I could. 

 

And here I was, looking at the distant engine I was supposed to be in. 

 

I really wanted to see her, now that everything is finished. I never had the time to talk to her, or invite her for a cup of coffee, due to our finals, and I'm pretty sure she's in the same situation. 

 

I looked at the boarding info, smiling to myself as I reminded the image of her little sleeping face. 

 

Literally every day, I found her like this, arms crossed, head in an awkward angle, looking like she just passed out from exhaustion. Something in her looked like she was the most little tough thing in the world, doing more than she's asked to. 

 

Maybe I undersood her too well. 

 

I was very tired as well, and the first time she fell on my shoulder, I did wake up. I panicked a little ( a lot ) and debated whether or not to wake her up, or move, or just do nothing. 

 

Seeing how calmly she was sleeping, I felt a little something pinch my heart and decided to act like nothing happened, falling back to sleep.

 

The week after, I didn't even notice the weight on my shoulder, as I fell asleep before her head fell, and woke up without her, the seat beside me now cold. 

 

Actually, it was rassuring to have someone so calm round me, so when she changed her seat, I didn't think about it too much and followed her, not even realizing that maybe she wanted me to go away. 

 

Now that I think about it, I could easily look like a stalker.

 

Yesterday, I woke up and found her note. I don't really know what she's apologizing for, but I guess she had enough of using me as a pillow.

 

Do I smell ? 

 

Nah, it's okay. 

 

Well, it was fun having someone I don't know relying on me during such a hard time. 

 

Actually, I kinda know something about her. One of her friends told me her name, TaeHa. She's in Languages, and once in a while I see her hurried form running here and there, holding some folders to her chest.

 

My eyes fell on a number. A train will stop in 3 minutes and take the exact same line as the usual one.

 

Nah, Doyoung, don't worry about it, she'll take you for a weirdo if you ask her in a date like that.

 

I cringed at the word 'date', but without me noticing it, I climbed in the train.

 

♡

 

I didn't manage to chase the sad feeling sinking into my heart, but I didn't even tried.

 

Maybe I just don't want to.

 

My stop was announced. Like so many times, I looked besides me.

 

Empty.

 

Once out of the train, I stood there, looking at a publicity with a girl smiling with too many teeth, holding some kind of drink.

 

What did I expect from him ? From us ? 

 

Girl, he's a stranger, and you're the same to him. 

 

I don't even know his name ! 

 

What the hell, seriously.

 

...

 

I stayed there for a few minutes, my worn out body refusing to turn away from the rails.

 

Maybe people were looking at me weirdly. What, they never saw a student who just finished their finals ?

 

\- Um... excuse me ?

 

Someone snapped their fingers in front of my nose, making me blink and come back to earth. 

 

Just in front of me, was the boy. 

 

The boy.

 

I had a startled jump going through my muscles, and he seemed as surprised as me to be there.

 

\- You ?!?

 

He smiled. And, I'm going to be cheesy, but he has an adorable gummy smile.

 

\- Yes, me. 

 

I think that I looked very lost, because he began to explain :

 

\- I'm... the boy... that... uh. 

 

He scratched the top of his head.

 

\- That... you slept on ? 

 

Reality hit me like a truck.

 

\- Oh my god. I'm so sorry. 

 

He stopped moving around, looking into my eyes.

 

\- I mean, that was obviously rude, and I still did it for, like, two entire weeks, plus I ruined your shirt, and oh god I'm really sorry, please accept my apologies, if you want, I can wash your shirt- which by the way was very stylish, I liked it- and give it back to you in a few days, please, I can do whatever you want to pay you back, you have no idea how it was comfortable- no ! I mean, it helped me a lot-

 

He had to take me by my shoulders, bending to my height, to make me shut up.

 

\- Listen, it's okay, don't worry. It's my pleasure-

 

He seemed to realize how strange that sounded.

 

-.. and which shirt are you talking about ?

 

I looked at his handsome face with wide eyes.

 

\- Yesterday... I stained it with lipstick... sor-

 

\- That's why mom was looking at me weirdly ! Oh, what did she imagine...

 

\- What ?

 

He smiled again, visibly amused.

 

\- It's okay, I'll wash it. 

 

I felt myself getting awkward, so he proposed to go somewhere else.

 

Not really realizing where we were walking to, he guided me to a coffee shop. 

 

\- I insist, don't worry about all of that. I obviously enjoyed it too... 

 

\- Why would you ? I must've been annoying...

 

His long fingers gripped his cup.

 

\- It wasn't ! It was kind of relaxing.

 

I gave him a not-so-sure look, so he explained : 

 

\- It's like when there's thunder outside a child's bedroom ; he tightly hug a teddy bear to reassure himself. 

 

I looked outside, realizing it started raining, and he gave me one of his smiles.

 

\- Do you understand ? Calming someone is relaxing. We both dragged each other to sleep.

 

His musical laugh penetrated smoothly in my ears, like warm milk.

 

I smiled and nodded, feeling his dark and joyful eyes watching my every move.

 

\- Please, don't feel intimidated, we're both equals. Plus, everything's over now...

 

I deeply inhaled.

 

\- It is... 

 

We both looked at each other, a wanted silence surrounding us, just broken by the rhythmic sound of water dropping on the window next to us.

 

We talked about us, nothing and eveything, our passions, families, fears, joys, tastes, dreams, and expectations. I also learned that Doyoung was in the Art dep, studying music. 

 

When I heard him sing, two weeks after our first coffee together, I realized that the Shine singing boy was him. Since then, I always asked him to sing, and he gladly obeyed. Everytime he came over, he sang whenever we would stop talking. He also showed me a preview of his upcoming songs, asking my opinion with expecting eyes. In exchange, I teached him how to make almond coffee and bubble tea. 

 

And so, Doyoung and I began to share our life.

**Author's Note:**

> Get to know us #1
> 
> Hi ! I'm the author ! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this work !
> 
> I wrote this on the run, so pardon my mistakes ! Also, may I inform you that I'm not a native english-speaker. 
> 
> Have a nice day and respect NCT and all artists !


End file.
